Imperials – Back to the Roots

I have just listened to the Imperials – Back to the Roots preview over on SGN. The way I will do these reviews is I will rate each track overall, then give an overall rating for the project. Enough said, let’s get to the review.

1. First Day In Heaven – A fairly straight ahead rendering of this Statesmen and Imperials classic. 8/10
2. No Shortage – Wow. One of the 2 or 3 picks of the project. This is as good, if not better than the original version. 10/10
3. I Believe – Ian Owens does a great job on the verses. The harmony at the chorus is very tight. Not an outstanding song, but it’ll do. 8/10
4. Great Big Wonderful God – This one is a bit disappointing. I really miss the ascending harmony on the word God in the chorus that the original had. The performance is fine, my issue is more with the arrangement. The tenor lead by Hudson is really good, and the harmony on the tag is spot on. 7/10
5. Be Still My Soul – This is pretty much true to the original arrangement. One of the Imps most underrated tunes. The performance is fine, but this song just misses Russ Taff’s voice. This song was built for Taff. This is not at all a knock on Shannon Smith, he turns in a fine performance, I just prefer the sound of Taff’s voice on this one. 7/10
6. He’s Everything to Me – Nice smooth harmonies on this one. Jason Morales does a great job on the verses. I REALLY like the inverted harmonies on the last chorus, these guys have a great sound when they take the harmony into the stratosphere. They have a very full sound, especially to be singing so high. 8/10
7. Praise the Lord – The biggest song in the Imperials history. Smith turns in a fine performance, but something just seems to be missing in the arrangement. It’s a fine performance, but it just lacks the punch of the original. 7/10
8. My Child, Welcome Home – I have to admit, I’ve never liked this song, and I was very glad to hear that they removed the spoken lines in the chorus. It just always seemed so cheesy to me. I like this version better than the original. 7/10
9. More (Than You’ll Ever Know) – This is the pick of this project. I’ve always loved the song, and Jeremie Hudson absolutely nails it. I love the jazz flavored backing track as well. This one may be better than the original as well, and I’m a huge Jim Murray fan. This definitely needs to go to SG radio as a single. This track alone is worth the price of the CD. 10/10
10. Water Grave – I was thrilled to see that this song was on the project. Having said that, I was disappointed. Again, the vocal performance is fine, but I really dislike the arrangement on the chorus. I have the same comment here as I did with Be Still My Soul. This song just begs for Russ Taff’s soulful vocal. This is one of my favorite Imperials songs, and it just really suffers from a lackluster vocal arrangement. The instrumental track is pretty good, though. 6/10
11. I’m Gonna Be There – This is again pretty true to the original. Great tune, solid traditional SG quartet sound. I like the higher ending on this version than on the original. These guys really could be a top notch SG quartet. This is a great way to end the project on a high note. Literally. 9/10

Overall: 9 This is a very solid recording, and one of the best “classics” type CDs I’ve heard. The arrangements are all very close to the original versions, at least vocally, but updated slightly to not sound dated. Considering several of the songs are nearly 40 years old, that’s no small accomplishment. Vocally, the Imperials have really started to jell in their sound. I have no issues at all with the vocal performance on any of the songs. A couple of the cuts seem to struggle in the arrangements, but vocally they are all very well done. Overall this gets a 9 on the strength of “No Shortage” and “More.” I will definitely add this CD to my collection.